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John Peter Amewu 2017 Most Impressive Minister

The survival of Ghanaians has been extended by several decades because of the hard work of one of the 110 Ministers and deputy Ministers serving in the president Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo government.

Although the list of Ministers is a tall one, with many of them doing different things to reposition the country, one of them has been phenomenal in the year 2017.

Regional ministers under president Akufo-Addo government

It should not be difficult to recognise Lands Minister John Peter Amewu as the Most Impressive Minister of the year.

The passion and dedication with which he led the government’s major campaign against illegal mining localized as galamsey since February, is commendable.

As indiscriminate activities of illegal miners pollute more water-bodies, Ghana was getting ever closer to the dangerous tipping point that could have accelerated its destruction.

A river polluted by activities of galamseyers in Ghana

Already, the Brim River that serves several communities in the Eastern Region has lost its purity to these galamseyers, while the Tano River in the Brong Ahafo Region has dried up for the first time in 40 years.

Water experts and officials of the Ghana Water Company Limited warned the country risked importing water by the year 2020 if nothing was done about the issue of illegal mining.

The failure of the previous regimes in dealing with the galamsey menace strengthened the miners to religiously go about their activities, albeit mass fatalities.

Illegal miners at work in Ghana

The issue presented a huge challenge to the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP), a task which was indirectly transferred to Mr Amewu.

Even though there is the existence of an Inter-Ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining, the work done by the Lands Minister towers over its efforts.

Today, there are visible signs that the anti-galamsey efforts are paying off, with some of the rivers like the Pra River in the Central Region regaining their purity.

I must state that the gains of the anti-galamsey campaign will not have been possible without the collaboration of key ministries such as the Science and Technology, Defense, Lands, Water Resources and Interior Ministries.

The Ministers have been immensely helpful, but Mr Amewu should be credited for what appears a successful campaign.

However, more remains to be done such as the full implementation of the five-year Multilateral Mining Integrated Project (MMIP), expected to reform the way mining is done in Ghana.